Inklings Gesellschaft
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“Inklings” was the name of a group of Oxford scholars and writers; its best-known members were J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. The Inklings Gesellschaft für Literatur und Ästhetik e.V. (Inklings Society for Literature and the Arts), founded by Gisbert Kranz (1921-2009), is dedicated to the discussion and dissemination of the works of these authors and of writers commonly associated with them (in particular, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton) and to the study of the fantastic in literature, film and the arts in general. Every year the Inklings Society organizes an international symposium in Germany. The proceedings are published in the Inklings Yearbook, which the Inklings Society’s approx. 300 members receive gratis. The Yearbook is published bi-lingual: German and English.
The Inklings Yearbook (Inklings - Jahrbuch für Literatur und Ästhetik) has appeared regularly since 1983. It is a forum for scholarly articles on fantastic literatures of all nations from the beginnings to the present, with special regard to the authors of the Oxford Inklings (J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams and others) and to their predecessors like George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton. The articles are not restricted to literary criticism; they also deal with philosophical, theological, sociological and pedagogical aspects, with the arts, music, and the new media. About two thirds of the articles document the proceedings of the annual symposiums of the Inklings Society. Among general articles, one (under the heading “The Poet’s Eye”) presents an analysis of a poem of fantastic content, another (“Favourite Authors”) offers an introduction to an undeservedly neglected author of fantastic literature. About one quarter of each volume is dedicated to reviews, mostly of scholarly books dealing with fantastic literature. Articles are either in German or in English and are preceded by abstracts in both languages.